•Hurricane Sandy will have a severe impact on our region over the next several days:

• Strong damaging sustained winds 35 to 50 mph over a prolonged period of time (24 to 48 hours), with gusts up to near hurricane strength. Strongest winds are expected south and east of the I-95 corridor.

• Extremely heavy rainfall.

• Major to record inland flooding along streams and rivers.

• Major to record coastal flooding. The full moon on October 29 just makes things worse.

• Options for the storm to miss our area are rapidly dwindling. Confidence on the storm having a major impact on our region continues to increase. The focus of efforts should be on when Sandy hits our region, not if Sandy hits our region.

• Next briefing package will be issued by 600 PM on Sunday, October 28th.